Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission proposed to make 100 megahertz of mid-band spectrum in the 3.45-3.55 GHz band available for 5G deployment across the contiguous US. The FCC also adopted rules for, and proposed additional changes to, the broader 3.3-3.55 GHz band. This item marks an important step toward satisfying Congress’s directive in the MOBILE NOW Act to make new spectrum available for flexible use and to work with National Telecommunications and Information Administration to evaluate the feasibility of allowing commercial use in the 3.1-3.55 GHz band.

Phase I of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) is scheduled to commence on October 29, 2020. The Federal Communications Commission laid out its approach for determining the census blocks eligible for Phase I support and established a limited challenge process for parties to identify, in part, areas that had been awarded funding by a federal or state broadband subsidy to offer broadband service at 25/3 Mbps or better and for which funding has already been paid or a formal commitment has been executed.